A former employee of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority is suing the agency and several other entities, alleging he was wrongfully fired in 2022 on a pretext of having donated items to the needy without permission.
In his Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, Peter Motta, who is Latino, alleges he was actually subjected to race discrimination and harassment, retaliation and failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation. Motta seeks unspecified damages.
A LAHSA representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Thursday.
Motta was hired in April 2019 as a homeless engagement team member and he regularly went to homeless encampments to provide food, water and other supplies, the suit states. He was often praised for his work and received a one-time bonus for contributions during the coronavirus era, the suit further states.
However, a new associate director arrived in August 2021, dismantled Motta’s warehouse team and fired five Latino employees, according to the suit, which alleges the new director told Motta’s manager that there were “too many Mexicans around the warehouse.”
In January 2022, the new director hired a Black employee for the warehouse team who had poor work habits and admitted to Motta that he had an alcohol problem, the suit states. Motta refrained from reporting the Black employee’s conduct for a time, but the work environment worsened when another Black employee was promoted to acting co-executive director, the suit states.
When the Black employee left work with an organization car after hours, Motta finally reported him, but the new acting associate director accused him of being “far too stern” with the worker and falsely called the plaintiff a “racist” who “did not do too well with Black people,” the suit states.
The acting associate director reversed Motta’s writeup of the employee, leaving the plaintiff “in complete shock and disbelief,” the suit states.
Motta went on a medical leave in August 2022 for a hernia-correction procedure, but when he sought to return in October of that year a human resources director told him he was under investigation for missing warehouse supplies and to stay home, the suit states.
Motta later told the human resources representative that management has previously encouraged the donations of unused cots and other supplies, but he was denied the ability to provide receipts and photos to defend himself, according to the suit
Motta was terminated in December 2022 and given a letter that stated he had been told by the associate acting director to not donate any LAHSA assets and that he had called his supervisor “stupid” and his co-workers “dumb,” the suit states.
In fact, Motta was never warned not to donate cots, according to the suit, which further states he has experienced “substantial losses in earnings and other employment benefits” since losing his job.